Days 194 - 197

Hey again...I needed a few days off. I was to the point that I didn't feel compelled to write and was tired of saying absolutely nothing to you. Basically, these days were spent just doing my job and hearing over and over again how my relief was delayed from arriving here. That wait ended super early this morning, though.  After the impossibility of sleeping, I headed on to the terminal at 1am to say for the last time, "Welcome to Afghanistan!" This time, it's to the guy who is taking over my job here. After the typical pleasantries, we loaded up his gear, got him a bite to eat, and got him a temporary room for a few days. First impressions? Young guy...only 6 years in the Navy but the same rank as me. He finished college and headed straight in. He's active duty vs. me..a reservist. Just like my first impressions about 2 or 3 months ago...a guy who thinks he knows most of everything yet doesn't. I figured I'd give him the crash course of turnover and remove the opportunity for him to interject. With that said, I did exactly that. We spent hours on the road, walking to several locations, shaking lots of hands, and reviewing all of what I've built back in the office. I will say this...it's a bit rough to hear him nearly immediately tell me how he's going to change certain things. All that does is make me want to put my fingers in my ears and ignore. How in the world could he possibly say something like that with zero experience? He has no clue and before his feet even get wet, he's ready to change things. No doubt, I will choose to remember what I have built and accomplished as I left it and honestly, do not want to know anything else after that. So, while he chose to stay in the office late tonight, I did not and headed on back to my room. I'm totally exhausted by nearly no sleep at all last night so I'm crashing very, very soon and will hopefully wake up for some laps of the NASCAR race today...only 5 races to go to the Cup! Tomorrow, I'll spend the morning with my relief again and this time, driving and meeting more folks and showing him the logistics of how things move on this base. I'll give him 4 hours then I'm done. Then it's lunch, my normal Monday video-conference with the North where I'll introduce him, brief my slide, then that (as far as I'm concerned) concludes the turnover. By 3pm tomorrow, I'll be in the Navy's hands and standing by for future direction as to my leap aboard the Yellow Brick Road. Of course, I can never discuss future movements here. You'll find out after the fact but I will let you know.

There have been some highlights of wrapping up my time. As I pushed out e-mails to my customers to notify them of my departure and turning over my position, I received many thank-you's from them that were heartfelt. Their sincere words really make it all worth it. I know this...beyond a shadow of a doubt: when I went through graduate school from 2002-2006, the cornerstone of the school was "servant leadership"...leading other by serving them. Truett Cathy did it and does it with Chick-Fil-A along with many other successful businesses. Out here, I came here with one goal...to serve the warfighter with excellence, far exceeding what they expected. I did that...I heard it on e-mail and many times today as I said my goodbyes. I will leave with that knowledge...and a few medals to document it! :-) But seriously, knowing I served and excelled is enough for me.

If you're wondering, by the way, about what "mile" I'm at in that 100-mile race....Mile 96. Yea...I can taste the finish.

Goodnight, everyone.